Talal’s success story

The 12-year-old Talal lives in Beit Lahya’s project in a very poor economic condition. His father is unemployed and the family depends on his older brother work in a clothes store. Talal has 6 siblings, five of which are males. He has a troubled relationship with his grandparents, parents, siblings and colleagues in school. Accompanied with his mother, he came; he was very sad and it was clear the he had a trauma since he was not cooperative when speaking with him. When his mother was asked about their complaints, she said, “ my son is very nervous and violent after his brother’s death in a car accident. We blamed him much for his brother’s death because he was with him and could not protect him so he became concerned. He tried to commit suicide twice.” Through assessment, it was clear that he feels guilty towards his brother so he has involuntary urination, loss of appetite, bouts of slapping on the face, stubbornness, stealing small things, retrieving the accident over and over again, crying, lack of concentration, forgetfulness, Lying, not enjoying the activities and games he used to play and talking while sleeping. Accordingly, a treatment plan was designed for him, including cognitive behavioral therapy techniques and instructions on the behavior modification schedule and how to deal with trauma. Also, his mother was delivered psychological knowledge about her son’s trauma. She was instructed to not blame him and listen to him and show some respect to his feelings and to enroll him in school activities. He was trained to do psychological emptying through drawing and writing stories, containing his feelings. Instructions were given in how to deal with involuntary urination through stars schedule. He was taught relaxation exercises to apply it during sessions. He was advised to talk with the school counselor to solve his problems in school. At the end of the sessions, he get rid of all his psychological problems and he quit to feel guilty and restored back his psychological stability.